BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

Common Core test results vary for Tri-Lakes area students

Results for state tests students took in April have been released, and they generally show improvement – especially in Keene and Saranac Lake – in the second year of the state’s transition to Common Core.

The tests are given to students in grades 3 through 8. The English language arts and math assessments are scored based on a scale of 1 to 4, with scores of 3 and 4 being considered proficient.

Those who score 1 or 2 are said to need improvement, and for the most part, 70 to 80 percent of local students fell into that category.

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Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake Central School District’s English and math test scores both increased: 11 percentage points in math and 4 in English. Superintendent Diane Fox said the district can do better, but she recognized the improvement.

“I certainly can’t celebrate that,” Fox said of the scores showing two-thirds of the students being not proficient. “At the same time, there was work involved to get there.”

Fox said the district has made a commitment to its K-5 math program the past couple of years, and the extra effort appears to have paid off.

“Teachers who have been working with it feel that it has made a real difference in our students’ math abilities,” Fox said. “Our hope is, as time goes on and we see those kids rise through the grades, we’ll see our scores rise.”

Fox said there has been a “real commitment” from the teachers to teach the curriculum as intended.

“They’re trying to make sure they’re completing the program throughout the year and working on the individual parts,” she said.

Moving forward, Fox said student engagement will be a major priority.

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Lake Placid

The Lake Placid Central School District had a slight drop in English scores, down 3 percent from last year, and held steady in math.

Superintendent Roger Catania said the district has fallen into similar trends that are affecting school districts in the state.

“We’re happy that we’ve shown improvements,” Superintendent Seth McGowan said. “We feel like we’ve been sinking and sinking each year, and this is the first year we’ve shown improvement. So I feel like we’re out of a downward trajectory.”

The district has spent a lot of time working on the Common Core math program, which was the cause for the bump in scores, but the district still needs to improve, McGowan said.

The focus for the district will be research-based instruction and ensuring teachers diagnose and understand each small mistake, he said.

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Keene and Long Lake

The area’s smallest school districts posted the highest percentages of students with 3s and 4s. Both Keene’s math and English scores rocketed past 50 percent proficiency, with math shooting up 24 points to 61 percent and English rising 8 points to 56.

Long Lake’s percentages dropped from 2013, 7 points in English and 1 in math, but still were stronger than any of the larger Tri-Lakes’ districts.

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Managing Editor Peter Crowley contributed to this report.

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By the #s

Test scores for local school districts

Percentage of students tested in April 2014 who scored 3 or 4, indicating proficiency, as opposed to 1 or 2, with comparisons to 2013 scores